Depression among teenagers in Hong Kong Every year many teenagers die not because of accidents or illness, but by themselves. According to a study (2008) conducted by the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, 1 in every 12 juvenile adolescents suffer from major depression. The report said about 2. 1 million teens aged 12 to 17 experienced a major depressive episode in the past year. For almost half of the teens, depression drastically reduced their abilities to deal with aspects of their daily lives, the report said.

There are many reasons for depression and not just one single factor, we are going to explore the external and individual reasons that make teenagers suffer. First of all, teenagers suffer from depression usually related to the academic. Based on the survey (2008) conducted by Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong which is about the mental health of adolescents in Hong Kong, the result said that 74 percent respondents feel puzzle because of academic. Normally, each person will set some targets for themselves, just like students aim at getting high grades.

If they cannot do it, they will be frustrated easily, especially in Hong Kong. For example, based on an article in “Ta Kung Pao” dated March 02 2010, a postgraduate of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology killed herself due to the academic pressure according to the girl’s friend. Since Hong Kong is a knowledge-based society with keen competition, hence many students put much focus on their academic results, they believe one who could get better results would be the winner. So the influence of pressure to succeed is quite large among adolescents.

In addition, the pressure from relationship affects teenagers a lot also. The result of the survey (2008) done by Richmond Fellowship reveal that 58 percent respondents feel depressed because of problems between friends. In the presence of all, the teenagers who aged between 15 and 18 take over 60 percent. An old saying “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods. ” by Aristotle. The quotation shows the importance of friends in our social lives, so people will make friends. However, it is not easy to find a good way to get along with peers.

Some teenagers, who are not good at managing relationship with others, are easily shut out by peers. Peer influence is a profound effect during the adolescence. They may not be able to cope with it in a better way and so they will feel frustrated. Moreover, parents can definitely contribute to the depression of child. Nowadays, most families have two working parents in Hong Kong. Parents are always busy with their work and have little time to chat with their children, so even the child has any problem they will not know.

A research (2009) conducted by Hong Kong Psychology Association which related to the effect of relationship with parents and children, the result showed the lack of communication between parents and children causing the relationship worsen and forming a gap in between. This causes the parents difficult to understand what is happening with their children. It may because the youths to believe their parents are neglecting them and so they suffer from depression. Also, if the age gap between parent and child may be too broad, and the kid may feel like they are misunderstood, which can contribute to feelings of being lonely and isolated.

According to the survey (2004) done by Breakthrough which related to ‘Communications of teenagers’ showed nearly 50 percent respondents do not have a good communication with their parents. This is mainly because of the age gap and children always feel being suppressed and restraint and hence contributed to the child’s depression. Last but not least, teenagers with low self-esteem will also suffer from depression. In Hong Kong, people like to compare with others, for instance social status, academic result and number of friends and so on.

It is no doubt that compare can make someone do better, but if the person put too much emphasize on comparing will have negative impact. Some of them always think themselves are not as good as others and doubt they are useless which makes them feeling thwarted and even commit suicide. A survey (2009) made by The University of Hong Kong displayed that 67 percent respondents who said they had low self-esteem as they felt they were incapable of doing anything, because they are convinced that they would not do it well.

Therefore, low self-esteem is one of the factors that lead to youth depression. To conclude, many factors contribute to teenage suicide but depression is one of the main reasons that cause teenagers to commit suicide. It has been proved that if depression is unnoticed and untreated, it will become more serious. The teenagers may even turn to drugs and do a lot of illegal things and finally may lead to suicide. Reference: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics

Breakthrough- Survey ‘Communications of teenagers’ http://www. breakthrough. org. hk/index? lang=zh Hong Kong Psychology Association http://www. hkps. org. hk/en/ Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong- Research of teenagers’ mental health in Hong Kong http://www. richmond. org. hk/e/default_home. asptu The Mental Health Association in Hong Kong- Adolescents Experienced Major Depression in the Past Year http://www. mhahk. org. hk/chi/sub4_1_info_a1_v35. htm Ta Kung Pao http://www. takungpao. com. hk/